Medway: POW/MIA chair to honor Milford vet

MEDWAY - Nearly a year after Lisa Kingsley began her efforts to have a prisoner of war/missing in action chair placed in Medway, the chair has finally arrived.

Kingsley began raising money to purchase the chair last July, an endeavor she said came from hearing her father’s Korean War stories.

And with two sons in the Army National Guard, Kingsley said she understands the sacrifices made by members of the country’s military, especially 95-year-old Joseph Manella.

An unveiling ceremony Saturday - at 2 p.m. at an existing Civil War monument across from the police station on Village Street - will honor World War II veteran and Milford resident Manella, who spent two years as a POW after his plane was shot down by Japanese forces over Singapore in 1943.

According to Kingsley, she chose a Milford resident because of the two POWs from Medway, one is deceased and the other lives out of state.

Manella, reached by phone Monday, said he looks forward to telling his story.

"He has a very compelling story," Kingsley said, adding that Manella will talk about his experiences as a POW at the ceremony.

As World War II veterans and prisoners of war pass away, Kinsgley said their stories need to be told.

"Look around in everyday life," she said. "You have all of this freedom because of people like them."

Kingsley said her father was honored by the Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle-riding veterans’ advocacy group, at the unveiling of a POW/MIA chair in Natick last summer.

During that ceremony, MA1 Rolling Thunder President Joe D’Entremont spoke about putting a chair in every town in the state, which got Kingsley’s attention.

"When I heard him speak, I thought, ‘How hard can it be?’" she said.

Kingsley said raising the $2,000 for the chair was challenging, but through donations, she was able to have the chair installed last month.

With very few POWs left to tell their stories, Kingsley said the chair will hopefully remind people as they drive by.

"These stories need to be heard, not forgotten," she said. "I really believe that and I hope most people believe that."

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.